IN response to the letter by Robin Rawson ('Nappy power', October 5), users of disposable nappies might be interested in the following.

Disposable nappies are 75 per cent plastic, take one cup of crude oil to make each one, are responsible for human faeces on open landfill and take up to 500 years to decompose.

Modern cloth nappies fasten with poppers or Velcro, need only a 60 degree wash in the machine and are very easy to use as any solid matter is flushed away. Using cloth nappies can save you £500 (including purchase and laundering costs). If used for subsequent children or sold on, then you can save even more.

Seeing as each child in disposable nappies fills a black bin bag every week, switching to cloth will make a huge difference to the amount of rubbish in the grey bins.

I've used cloth nappies on both my kids and am currently enjoying the financial as well as environmental benefits.

For further information please contact me at nappies@the-oasis.org.uk

Maria Knight,

Askham Lane,

Acomb, York.

Updated: 11:23 Friday, October 07, 2005